1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to automatic labeling machines for bottles, containers, and the like, and more particularly to an in-line continuous sleeve or label applying machine that allows labels to be applied to the central portion of the bottle while the bottles remain in-line with the input and output bottle conveyors and a sleeve forming device using ultrasonic welding that allows sleeves to be formed contemporaneously with their application so that expensive tubular film need not be purchased in advance.
2. Description of the Related Art
Container or bottle banding and sleeving have become more important in the recent past. Recent consumer concerns about health and safety issues regarding the intact and untampered nature of product purchases led manufacturers and suppliers to seal the tops of containers with bands or the like that cannot be tampered with without showing evidence of such tampering. Such banding usually addresses only the top portion of the bottle or container and does not encounter the difficulties arising from sleeving the central portion of a bottle, such as a beverage bottle of the one-, two-, or three-liter variety.
With the advent of stronger plastics, beverage containers are often constructed of plastic or the like. The material is lightweight, easy to manufacture, generally inert with respect to the contents held within, and may be recyclable. For carbonated beverages, plastics that withstand the pressures generated by such a carbonated beverage safely hold the beverage within the container until the top is removed. Often the top is of the twist-off variety. Such bottles are generally not embossed, printed, nor otherwise incorporate a label of the contents as the manufacturer of the bottle may not know what contents will ultimately go into the bottle. Such bottles may be manufactured to certain specifications imposed by either the manufacturer, the Government or other regulatory agency, or both. By supplying a fungible good in the form of a beverage container, the purchaser or bottler can then fill the empty bottle with purified water, soda pop, pre-mixed tea, or the like for future sale. In order to inform the buying public of the bottle""s contents, a label must go on the front conforming with the seller""s preferences and any Government regulations involved. In the past, it has become a matter of convenience and economic efficiency to provide sleeves for the central portion of the bottle that act as the label identifying the bottler, the bottle""s contents, and complying with any Governmental regulations regarding nutrition or otherwise.
The sleeves that are used to label plastic beverage containers are generally made of thin plastic and slip about the bottle to snugly engage the central portion thereof. By labeling generic or fungible bottles, the bottler or seller can use the same or similar bottles in marketing a variety of products under similar or different labels.
As separate sleeves are provided to label the bottle and its contents, it then becomes a problem in the art to provide a means, preferably high-speed automated means, by which such labels can be applied to plastic beverage containers. The prior art has attempted to address a machine that provides labeling of bottles at their center. However, all previous attempts generally do not maintain the in-line nature of the travel path of the bottle so that it travels in a generally straight line between the input conveyor to the sleeving/labeling machine and then on to the output conveyor.
As mentioned above, banding machines and the like (for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,387,553, issued to Strub et al. on Jun. 14, 1983) do not provide the central sleeving required by bottlers and as provided by the present invention. Such banding machines only allow banding of the top of the container and completely fail to provide sleeving or banding of the central portion of the bottle. In the Strub et al. ""553 patent, certain structures integral to the finger articulation and disengagement of the band onto the bottle prevent any central sleeving of the bottle as the label carrier cannot properly engage the bottle.
Consequently, sleevers and the like have attained generally complicated configurations such as U.S. Pat. No. 5,483,783 issued to Lerner et al. on Jan. 16, 1996. In the Lerner et al. ""783 patent, bottles are essentially sleeved or banded. However, elevator pedestals that change the vertical disposition of the bottle as well as circular carousals that change the horizontal disposition of the bottle are present and prevent the bottles from being sleeved in an in-line fashion. Consequently, machines along the lines of the Lerner et al. ""783 patent take up more space on the bottling room floor and provide a generally more complicated process avoided by the present invention. As is well known in the art, greater complexity in machinery generally leads to greater risk of failure, as there are more things to go wrong. Additionally, maintenance is greater and there are more adjustments necessary in order to provide proper bottle sleeving with more complicated machinery.
Consequently, there is a need in the art and a demand in the marketplace to provide an in-line and continuous feed bottle sleeving machine that enables bottles to be centrally sleeved while doing so in an in-line, continuous, and preferably high-speed fashion.
The present invention provides means by which sleeves may be applied to plastic beverage containers or the like in an in-line fashion. As set forth herein, sleeves and labels are considered to be equivalent to one another as are bottles and containers.
The present invention provides in-line and continuous feed sleeving of beverage containers by coordination between bottle entry into the machine, an iris carrier that applies the sleeve to the bottle, and pedestals that support the bottle during the sleeving process. A label feeder, as is known in the art, presents and provides sleeve labels to the iris carriers.
Each sleeve carrier, or iris carrier, has an open bottle-receiving central aperture circumscribed by a controllable label holder in the form of dilating finger rods. An iris carrier transport system shuttles the iris carriers between a label feeder and the unlabeled bottles. During the labeling process, the bottles are maintained at a constant elevation, neither rising nor falling, increasing mechanical efficiency in labeling, requiring machinery that is less mechanically complicated, and providing easier retrofitting for current bottle-labeling lines.
A timing screw receives bottles in flood feeder conveyor fashion to controllably space apart and move the bottles to the pedestals from the conveyor over a low-friction transition area. The bottles are then supported by the pedestals as the iris carriers circumscribe the top portions of the bottles. For an individual bottle, upstanding fingers present on the iris carrier fit the sleeve over the bottle as the iris carrier descends about the pedestal-supported bottle. Upon descending about the bottle to a preset level, the fingers of the iris carrier collapse slightly by moving radially inward in order to affix the sleeve to the bottle. The iris carrier then descends past the bottle, pulling the fingers downwardly and away from the label. The label disengages the fingers, freeing the iris carrier. The fingers dilate or expand slightly to move away from the labeled bottle. The iris carrier then ascends upwardly towards the top of the bottle. The bottle travels along to an output conveyor from the pedestals. The bottle is now sleeved and the iris carrier disengages the bottle and travels back to the label feeder to receive another sleeve in order to ensleeve another bottle.
The iris carriers are maintained in a horizontal position by having offset pivot points that travel along offset chain or other traveling carriers. By having offset points of rotation, the iris carriers are held in a horizontal position. The iris carrier does not rock or sway, especially during its engagement and ensleevement of the traveling bottle. By means of an articulated linkage driven by a circumferentially-sliding link ring, upstanding articulating fingers move inwardly and outwardly with respect to the open center of the iris carrier. The center of the iris carrier is generally open in order to receive and to travel about the bottle.
The bottle-supporting pedestals are generally arranged to maintain their upright position in a manner similar to the iris carriers. Offset pivoting points of attachment are present at the base of the pedestals that travel along chains offset by the same distance as the pedestal base offset. The pedestals are held in an upright manner without rocking or swaying. Consequently, bottles held or supported by such stable pedestals are less likely to tip over and are better disposed to receive the sleeve. Additionally, the tops of the pedestals may be fitted with a bottle-conforming tip in order to better engage and secure the bottles. Vacuum means may provide pressure differential in the form of suction in order to better hold the bottle on the top of the pedestal.
The bottles may also be held in place by a dual-sided tractor device that horizontally stabilizes the bottles as they travel on the pedestals. The stabilizer provides additional stability for the bottles as the sleeve is placed about the bottle and the iris carrier disengages the sleeve. The mechanical stresses present as the iris carrier releases the label may have some tendencies to jostle the container, particularly if it is empty. The stabilizer ensures that the container remains on the pedestal in its proper vertical position.
The entire bottle-engaging portion of the In-Line Continuous Feed Sleeve Labeling Machine of the present invention may be driven by a single AC motor driving a timing belt, synchronizing the entire bottle-sleeving operation.
A label feeder that feeds labels to the iris carriers may be pneumatically operated but synchronized by means of a flywheel and driving shaft, or the like, coupling the label feeder to the AC motor. A stepper motor may feed labels to a guillotine-type cutter, which then slices the appropriate label from a string, stream, or ribbon of labels. Articulating arms having suction ends engage and open the separated endless sleeve so that its open-bottom end may be fitted about the contracted fingers of the iris carrier. Upon receiving the label, the iris carrier fingers may then dilate or expand in order to snugly engage the sleeve about its maximum circumference. A spring holding the fingers open may serve to slightly stretch the sleeve, as may other biasing means.
The labels may be formed from a sheet of film which is unspooled from an unwind roll and passed to a tube forming apparatus. The overlapping edges completing the tube enclosure may be connected using ultrasonic welding or the like. The sleeve may then be posed to the label feeder.
By providing the In-Line Continuous Feed Sleeve Labeling Machine and Method of the present invention, containers, bottles, and the like may be sleeved about their central and predominant portion by introducing the present invention in line with a currently-existing conveyor system. This provides an easy retrofit and excellent means by which such bottles and the like may be ensleeved in an economically efficient, high-speed, and reliable manner.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a bottle-sleeving machine that sleeves bottles or containers with labels or the like in an in-line fashion, allowing the bottles to travel from an input conveyor to an output conveyor in a straight manner.
It is an additional object of the present invention to provide an iris carrier for sleeving bottles.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a pedestal system for supporting and carrying bottles.
It is an object of the present invention to provide coordinated ensleevement and support means by which such an iris carrier may travel about the central portion of the bottle and descend below it in order to disengage a sleeve.
It is an object of the present invention to provide in-line sleeving of containers in a reliable and high-speed fashion.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a label formed from a film using ultrasonic welding, or the like, so that expensive tubular film need not be purchased in advance.
These and other objects of and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from a review of the following specification and accompanying drawings.